STARKVILLE — Ben Howland watched and waited for two long years.
A 19-year veteran of college basketball’s coaching ranks, Howland went about his days in his native Southern California, yearning to coach but without a place to ply his trade.
Two years after he was fired from his dream job at UCLA, where he won 233 games and led the program to three Final Four appearances in 10 seasons, Howland endured two seasons without blowing a whistle, without barking a command, without winning a game.
“I know I’m a really good coach,” Howland told USA Today on Feb. 25. “I’ve seen a lot of people coach this year, and it’s given me a new bounce and confidence in myself.”
There he was, seven years removed from reaching the Final Four for the third-straight season, patiently waiting for his next opportunity to resurrect a program.
That opportunity came calling Monday.
Completing a whirlwind 48-hour stretch that saw Mississippi State dismiss men’s basketball coach Rick Ray on Saturday, Howland was on an airplane Monday afternoon bound for Starkville. His time in purgatory was ending, and work awaited, as he was hired to be the 20th men’s basketball coach in MSU history.
“I’m elated,” Howland said in a MSU statement, “and excited about the opportunity build a consistent winner here at State.”
At 2:30 p.m. today at Humphrey Coliseum, Howland will be introduced as MSU’s coach. After that, he will head to Pearl, where he is scheduled to throw out the first pitch of MSU’s baseball game against Southern Mississippi at 6:30 tonight at Trustmark Park. After that pitch, Howland undoubtedly will bask in the applause of MSU fans. But once the hectic day is finished and the applause ends, Howland will have plenty of work to do.
Program-builder
Howland’s work won’t be easy. After leading Northern Arizona, Pittsburgh, and UCLA to the NCAA tournament, Howland will be charged with re-inventing a program that has been stuck in neutral for six years.
The Bulldogs haven’t reached the NCAA tournament since 2009 and have had three-straight losing seasons. Ray’s teams went 37-60 in that span. Howland, known as a tenacious recruiter and a defensive-minded leader, has had five losing seasons in a career that dates back to the 1995-96 season.
Howland inherits a team that should return four of five starters, including leading scorer Craig Sword, who averaged 14.7 points per game in Southeastern Conference play. There’s also junior forward Gavin Ware, who led MSU with 12 double-doubles this season.
While MSU’s recent history has been disappointing, Howland’s track record suggests an ability to manufacture quick turnarounds. By his third season in all three previous stops, Howland had produced at least 20 wins. At Northern Arizona, he won 20 games in his third year. The number ballooned to 29 in his third season at Pittsburgh. At UCLA, Howland turned an 11-win team from his first season into a unit that won 32 games and played for a national championship.
All three programs had endured losing seasons prior to Howland’s arrival.
All about recruiting
No coach knows more about succeeding at MSU than Richard Williams.
A winner of 191 games in his 12-year career at MSU, Williams led MSU to two Sweet 16 appearances and the program’s only Final Four appearance in 1996. Like Howland, he has been to the top of the mountain. Unlike Howland, Williams has done it in Starkville.
“He is a great coach, no question,” Williams said. “But it’s about players. You can be the greatest coach in the world but without players, it’s not going to happen. Can he get the players year in, year out to build a winning program here? His resume says he can.”
Howland made his name at UCLA by producing NBA talent. He recruited the nation’s No. 1 class once and guided 22 players to the NBA in his 10 years. Most of them have had solid professional careers and a few, like Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook and Cleveland’s Kevin Love, are superstars.
Howland also recruited well at Pittsburgh, where he won 57 games in his final two seasons and finished in the top 10 nationally twice.
Williams said the ability to have early recruiting success will help determine if Howland will be able to reverse MSU’s fortunes.
“It’s a little different in Mississippi,” said Williams, who recruited some of MSU’s greatest players ever, like former center Erick Dampier, from the Magnolia state. “He has to build that familiarity with coaches in the area, has to learn the lay of the land a bit. I think its imperative he hire a coach who’s familiar with Mississippi and the surrounding area. That would help a lot.
“Then again, he has a lot of recruiting contacts from across the country. From his time at UCLA and Pitt, he has a built-in network of people he knows we didn’t have access to. That’s a positive.”
Though nothing was officially announced, it became apparent that Howland’s staff was already taking shape by late Monday afternoon. According to ESPN.com’s Jeff Goodman, Howland had reached an agreement with former LSU assistant coach Korey McCray to join him in Starkville. McCray coached with Howland at UCLA near the end of his tenure — Howland was fired after a 25-10 season in 2012-13 — and was an assistant at LSU last season.
Details about Howland’s staff haven’t been announced.
McCray could help MSU’s efforts recruiting Malik Newman, a five-star guard, who helped Callaway High School win four straight state championships. MSU, LSU, Ole Miss, Kentucky, North Carolina State, and Kansas reportedly are the schools Newman is considering.
On Monday, Newman called the hiring of Howland “exciting,” but he offered little else.
His father, Horatio Webster, was an All-SEC performer at MSU under Williams in 1997-98.
“From what I heard (Howland) has just as many players in the NBA as (Kentucky coach John Calipari) Cal does,” Webster said. “The fact that he went to three straight Final Fours, that speaks volumes. Mississippi State wasn’t far off. I think if coach Ray would have been there another year they might have made it with the juniors and seniors they have.”
On the recruiting front, MSU has three signees for 2015, including three-star guard Quinndary Weatherspoon of Velma Jackson.
The first recruiting news for Howland broke Monday night and it wasn’t great, as four-star 2016 prospect Darius Hicks, a 6-foot-8 forward from Quitman, announced he was de-committing to MSU.
Don’t look for that to slow MSU’s new momentum.
“Hiring a guy like Ben Howland is a huge statement from Mississippi State,” said Eric Bossi, national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. “He’s a winner, and he’s the kind of coach who will get the attention of players across the country. Malik (Newman) has played it close to the vest, but this hire certainly doesn’t hurt MSU’s chances.”
National reaction positive
At his peak, Howland was one of the nation’s top coaches.
At UCLA, the Bruins made the NCAA tournament seven times and finished in the top 10 five times, but that tenure ended in 2013. Late in the 2012 season, Sports Illustrated published an article titled “Not the UCLA Way” that examined the program and Howland’s handling of forward Reeves Nelson, who was accused of bullying and erratic behavior by teammates. Nelson was dismissed from the team. He told ESPN.com in 2012 that he was kicked off the team because of a series of incidents that demonstrated insubordination and a lack of respect. He walked out of a team practice, missed a flight to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational, and joked at the end of the bench during a loss to Texas.
Howland told USA Today that the situation with Nelson “hurt” him.
“There are certain things regarding him I couldn’t say then and still can’t,” Howland said. “but I should have pulled the plug on him after his sophomore year. We tried to make it work, but we couldn’t make it happen.”
Despite the ending, Howland left UCLA as its best coach since Hall of Famer John Wooden. Now Howland has a new beginning.
ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale said on Twitter, “Ben Howland will bring a winner’s mentality to the SEC. A good move by Miss. State Bulldogs.”
The reaction was just as hopeful at MSU.
“He’s a great coach with an incredible resume,” Williams said. “It’s a great hire.”
Howland’s job is to prove Williams and everyone else right.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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